Review: Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story

Thanks to the kind folks at Serif and Second Story Press, I have had the opportunity to look at Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story, written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson, with Shirley (Fletcher) Horn.

Shirley is only five years old when she is taken away by the Indian agent to live at a residential school. She loves learning, but she is not there by choice. From the first day walking up the long, lonely stone steps of the school building, life is hard and full of rules. Separated from her brothers and sisters, she is truly on her own. Shirley is very brave, but there is no one she loves to hold her at night when she is afraid. No one to tuck her in and comfort her. Shirley keeps going despite the sadness. She makes friends and has adventures. And most of all, she looks ahead to summertime, when she will be able to return to her family and the happiness of home.A true story.

Written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson, with Shirley (Fletcher) Horn, Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story takes readers on an educative and emotional journey of Shirley (Fletcher) Horn’s years of residential school, from the age of 5 years old. Removed by an Indian agent from their family home, and separated from her siblings once hoarded at their first residential school- St. John’s Indian Residential School- Shirley notes: “separating us was their first act of cruelty. There would be no more contact with my family. Ever.”. Prior to being allowed to start learning, young Shirley is alone in the dormitory, with no one to watch her- so the supervisors decide, for “safety”, to tie Shirley’s “ankle to the foot of [her] bed”. Once allowed to learn in the classroom, Shirley speaks to the love of learning she experienced: in addition to chores, the children had Brownies and Girl Guides, learning “how to sew and darn socks, and to put patches on our clothes when they wore out”. As Shirley describes: “without these activities, we would have had nothing to fill the gaping holes in our hearts…/…Otherwise, we would have perished from loneliness”. From attempted and successful brief escapes, to the trauma of being caught and forcibly made to have her hair shorn; to standing up to bigger, meaner kids, and befriending snakes; to the fleeting joy of a confirmation dress, to pretending to faint in church; and lastly, to summer- of finally- being allowed to be with family- Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story covers a tremendous volume of memories. As noted in the Epilogue by Shirley (Fletcher) Horn: “I have chosen to share my story in the hopes that others may do the same in helping their healing journey”.

With positive reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, CanLit for Little Canadians, as well as a starred review from School Library Journal, Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story is receiving commendations across numerous review spaces. Highly recommended for any school or public library collection, this book is a must-have and must-read. The short, potent, chapters provide readers glimpses not only into the lived-experiences of a survivor, but also how Shirley actively tried to cope, had to form perspectives, during those times- whether emotionally, mentally, as well as physically- in order to simply survive it.

The combination of these full-bodied yet short chapters, with Robertson’s illustrations super-imposed onto black-and-white historical photographs (including one of Shirley at the Shingwauk Indian Residential School), Shirley: An Indian Residential School Story brings you into an exceptionally unique, crucial narrative and telling of Shirley (Fletcher) Horn’s story. Following an Epilogue, backmatter includes Authors’ Notes from Shirley (Fletcher) Horn and Joanne Robertson, as well as photography credit listings. I would recommend everyone take the time to read through the entirety of these sections.

I received a copy of this title courtesy of Serif and Second Story Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and comments are my own. Title has been published and is currently available.